If an external ID validation check comes back as a fail it does not mean the applicant has done anything wrong or has necessarily provided incorrect details.
To pass a Route 2 check the applicant must meet the requirements set-out by Government standards, for a Level 2 (remote) application. This means that they must be matched within the Experian database to the following criteria:
The applicants name and current address to 4 primary data sources and the applicants name and date of birth to 1 data source or;
The applicants name and current address to 3 primary data sources and the applicants name and date of birth to 2 data sources.
If Experian cannot find data to this level or higher the application will return a fail result.
There are several occasions where this may be the case: persons that have just recently arrived in the UK, persons that do not have many credit or finance agreements, persons that have recently moved, or recently changed their name may lack enough matches. For these applicants, alternative identity verification via Route 1 or 3 will be required.
Failing the External ID validation check for the DBS’s Route 2 means Experian can not find enough information matches about the applicant to authenticate them to Level 2 (remote). The Route 2 ID check, as performed by Experian, matches the stated identity details (name, address, and date of birth) against relevant third party data that is available in the UK and data from their own database records which have been built up over time. For example Electoral Roll, debit bank accounts, credit card accounts, and mobile phone accounts.
